


speeches are for campaigning

by rosewitchx



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Assassination Attempt(s), Baby Driver - AU, Baby Driver references, Car Chases, Child Abuse, Citadel of Ricks, Drabble, Drabbles, Dunno what to call this, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Medieval AU, Multi, Not rickxmorty, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Slice of Life, Smoking, The Ricklantis Mixup, Torture, Underage Drinking, Unethical Experimentation, huh........;;;;, i swear it's not as bad as it might seem, i swear sometimes they're happy, lots of references actually, selective mutism, those are a lot of tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2018-12-26 21:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12067443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosewitchx/pseuds/rosewitchx
Summary: Some Ricks have Mortys. Some Ricks don't. All of them have stories of their own.





	1. bartender morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it seems like a good time for a drink.

The days at the bar always pass by so slowly.

He leans against the counter, sighing. It's another slow day. His hands fidget with the glass of whiskey he's holding. Behind him, the tv roars with the screams of joy from hundreds of his kind: that candidate Morty is bound to bring forth some change to this garbage fire of a citadel, right?

There's only one Rick and Morty that day. One gives the other a folder and stands up, leaving the establishment. The other stares at the files within and then rushes out.

Morty doesn't give it much thought.


	2. cop rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> order.

Rick stares at his reflection and swears he's looking at someone else entirely.

He's all badges and honors, his hands stained crimson by the blood of someone who's not there anymore. He's washed them before getting into his new uniform (one not tainted by the remains of Mortys, one not tainted by his partner's sins), but the feeling's still there, the smell of iron in the air.

The President says it'll be okay. Things are changing, now. There won't be any injustices anymore. No more Mortys killing Mortys. No more Ricks killing Mortys.

Rick really does hope things will change.


	3. campaign manager morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> got nowhere to run to, baby,   
> nowhere to hide

Morty stares at the files in the comfort of his department, not yet believing how he'd been fooled so easily.

Everyone knew the dangers of smart Mortys. It wasn't unheard of; Mortys that would turn on their Ricks, hijack their inventions to flee. But this was different. He hadn't taken over a portal gun or a Meeseeks box, he'd taken over a Rick.

He glances at the picture. There's cables underneath Candidate Morty's eyepatch; he should have realized before, but then again, nobody else had. No one would believe him either.

Morty heads to the backroom and grabs his gun.


	4. simple rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> come home to the unique flavor of shattering the grand illusion.

His life was a lie.

It became clear the second he opened his eyes and wasn't holding a video camera, watching his little girl stuff her face with cake, instead facing another one of himself. The memories of what had happened flew to his mind; he, Beth and Diane were going out for ice cream, and then, a green portal had flashed in, a bomb—

The Rick in front of him told him he would go to a better place. There was a portal next to him; he glanced at the Rick and sighed.

He stepped into it hoping so.


	5. lizard morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> brotherhood.

Life at the mega fruit farm is simple, and gentle. Everything he could have wanted.

His previous— no, his _last_ Rick had fucked his body over. He wasn't even _human_ anymore, and yet, Fat Morty and Glasses Morty didn't mind. They ate sandwiches and harvested fruit and told each other stories under the moonlight.

Sometimes, they spoke of Slick. They remembered him fondly, their close friend; he'd been right. The Citadel had once stripped them of everything that made them unique. It had taken his life.

Slick's wish had come true, though, and life at the farm was perfect.


	6. baby morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> young mozart in a go-kart.

He's not a toddler, but Mortys and Ricks alike have started to call him Baby for some reason he can't care to understand.

His earphones blast Brighton Rock as he steers away from the Citadel's cops; the Heisting Ricks on the backseat are scared to death, but Morty doesn't flinch the slightest even once, as he slides through the streets of Downtown like it's no biggie.

He accelerates to the song's rhythm; there's no beeping inside his head distracting him, no sudden car crash — just himself, his music and the road.

Soon enough, his debt will be paid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> baby driver is a good ass movie. you should all watch it. do it for my baby.


	7. ??? morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i wish anything about this life would change.

The Morty's hands tremble with something he can't decipher as he stands before the Wishing Portal. A place of myth amongst Mortys. Any wish would come true as long as he gave it something important enough.

A Morty wouldn't do, so suicide by portal was out of the question. Mortys aren't important enough, he's decided. He _is_ even less than a regular Morty. All blood and scars and a broken voice.

Even the less Rick of Ricks is more valuable than the most Morty of Mortys. He's learned this the hard way.

He offers the brain of his Rick and wishes for change.


	8. pastel rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mortys have no chance of defeating a rick.

The blood on his Morty's precious lavender sweater looked almost poetic, Rick thought, watching the kid struggle and gasp for air under his grip.

The gravel floor was dirty and rough, leaving tiny pieces of itself encrusted on the child's elbows. He'd his sleeves rolled up.

Lavender Morty could do nothing but scream as his Rick festered on his cries for help. No one would come, and they both knew it. Today was the day he'd join Pastel Rick's missing Mortys, all hidden on his basement.

Rick grinned as he saw the light leave Morty's eyes when he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to be clear????? i don't ship c137cest?????????????


	9. knight morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> when i say "shut up", it's really good advice.

He's a perfect suit of human armor, and will always be.

His sword clashes against his master's. He has to be better, can't stop for even a second. He rarely speaks anymore; the pressure has taken his voice away. He doesn't need it. He only needs his master's praise.

His master is graying, but that does not make him less powerful. Less wise. Mortimer's convinced he's the closest thing to a god, and he is his archangel.

Mortimer is a perfect shield, and he'd pay with his life to prove it, to save his master from his very own darkness.


	10. ??? rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's not faith what you need.

Rick took off his trenchcoat the second he reached the safety of his 'home'.

Of course, that wasn't his real home. Beth wasn't there. His own Morty, or Summer, weren't there either. They just weren't _anywhere_ anymore.

He'd sacrificed everything for a chance to save others. His inventions, his knowledge, his heart. He'd even let himself be broken into pieces. But he'd done all he could. It was up to that Morty now.

All Rick wanted now was to see his family again.

He slumped to the floor, took a swig from his signature flask and reached for his gun.


	11. rose gold morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> same old story.

He's not made of metal.

The nickname came from Hipster Rick's Poser Morty, both friends of his own Gardener Rick. After seeing his light pink hair, he'd jokingly compared it to his iPhone, a last generation rose gold one. Morty thought it was...kinda overrated. His Rick thought it was hilarious.

Still, he's not made of metal. He's not immortal. His Rick doesn't seem to realize, even as he bleeds his guts out. All he ever does is take selfies and gush over succulents.

Morty closes his hazy eyes and curses Rick from the depths of his rose gold heart.


	12. runaway rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'd rather be free, free, free

He's never going to look back.

His long, lanky legs hang from the edge of the building he's sitting on. He takes a long drag from the cheap cigarette he's indulging in. He refuses to drink. He refuses to be like the other Ricks. 

Sometimes he sees **_him_** when he looks into a mirror. Sees **_his_** face sneering at him, like they weren't the same person, just separated through time. Sees the faces of his other selves as they died from brutal experimentation.

He looks at the Citadel's skyline, mourns the fallen, and pretends there aren't tears burning his eyes.


	13. college rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm not driven by avenging my dead family

****Rick is running on coffee, adrenaline, and broken dreams.

He'd wanted to be a hero, once. Someone to free the galaxy from the Federation with his inventions. But Diane had insisted, "you should at least get a degree, you know, nothing can't be solved with a little diplomacy," and now he was buried in homework, with two papers due tomorrow, and the strongest death wish he'd ever experienced.

He supposes, back home, Beth's just about to be born.

That's just what he needs to fuel his spirits. He gulps down a third shitty espresso and braces himself for the all-nighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one week of college and i already wanna mcfucking end it


	14. evil morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they teach mortys that we're all the same because they're threatened by what makes us unique.

Morty returns to the Wishing Portal. Change had come his way, and though he didn't believe in fate anymore, he couldn't help himself.

He looks behind his shoulder just in case. A brand new eyepatch covers his eye, having installed a neurological transmitter into his head recently. It hadn't even been difficult; the Rick he'd been assigned to had no idea what was coming.

Morty allows himself, just for a moment, to feel prideful, as if he were a Rick.

He tosses his original eyeball into the Wishing Portal, closes his eyes, and makes his wish.

He prays for luck.


	15. ballet rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where is the love, the kind we dream of?

Unlike most days, where they both just practice, Rick has decided to take his Morty to a picnic.

That's it. No hidden plots, no secret plans. Simple, just a little moment of peace within their chaos.

Morty even goes and plays frisbee with some kids. A Morty with dyed rose hair and his Rick (one with a cool jean jacket, cigarettes instead of a can of beer, and that 80s aesthetic any millennial would die for) join in for the fun.

That night, both of them sleep peacefully for the first time in a while, nestled together on the couch.


	16. damaged morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> do you feel it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is kind of a downer. can’t help it.   
> i should stop projecting myself into these already fucked up characters.   
> anyway uhhh should i add individual tw for every particular chapter (like this one)?

Morty jerks back and drops the knife the second the bathroom door opens.

The alarm in his Rick's eyes is heavy, instantaneous, as he rushes to the bleeding child.

They've been together for almost a year already, but Rick can't even begin to comprehend what his previous Rick had done to the child. He holds Morty close after healing his wounds.

When asked, the kid says he deserved it, not " _the fake happiness you're trying to give me_ ". And Rick knows he truly believed it.

It would go without saying that Rick won't stop at anything to erase that lie.


	17. rebel mortys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the fallen ones, locked away in permanent slumber

Deep within Mortytown, a group of Mortys hide.

They're barely outcasts, thrown away because they don't fit in the complex, tightly-woven net the Citadel has become. A mute one, an armless one, a slow one. They work in the dark, led forth by the broken one.

They work in utter silence. They don't need to speak to be heard. They watch their steps, they're careful; sometimes they flinch away from each other, and that's okay too.

What they're planning is big; they know this much.

They might have been cast aside, but they won't ever let themselves simply be forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> harry potter and the recycled drafts from other series


	18. king rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “that fucking guy.”  
> “tell me about it.”

The dungeons are cold, wet and dark, but Rick still hears the footsteps approach, the door open.

“Do you feel like talking now?” The other Rick talks slyly to him; a kick follows the silence that fills the room, hitting the former king.

“Fuck you,” he spits out.

Everything is cold, dark and wet. Ever since the Citadel was taken over by that mysterious president, his own, small kingdom had been taken over. He’d been made prisoner, and now, was tortured for just one bit of knowledge.

But he’d never, _ever_ surrender his Prince Morty’s secret to any of them.


	19. wasteland morticia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it was all just a big, elaborate test.

Morticia had been alone for years on end. It was fine, she supposed; she hadn’t known any different ever since Summer had died, poisoned by radioactive waste.

That had changed very suddenly.

An old, lanky man came through a viscous circle on the wall. She’d jerked upright then, looking at the stranger that claimed he was her grandfather.

That sounded fake. Like what Fake Jessica had told her, ages ago, as she hallucinated before passing out. She couldn’t risk it; so what if she would stay alone? So what, really?

Morticia pulled out her gun and aimed at Rick’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the day i stop loving morticia is the day i’ll be let down into the ground


	20. dream traveller morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> your grandfather is indeed in very deep pain.

Morty lays down on his bed and stares at the deteriorated ceiling. His eyes feel heavy, but he can’t bring himself to sleep tonight.

He wants to visit his Rick. He really does. Comatose Rick is, well, asleep all the time. And he’s nothing like other Ricks. He’s gentle, and sweet, and helps him with his homework. It’s just...

He doesn’t want to face him, knowing that tomorrow, he won’t be there anymore. Knowing that his Rick will die.

Still, he closes his eyes, forces himself to dream, and fakes his best smile when he sees his grandfather once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dreaming mary is a good horror game. yall should check it out.


	21. stasis rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> because the world is full of idiots that don't understand what's important, and they'll tear us apart, morty!

Imprisoned in quartz, Rick felt the eons pass by.

He was one strange Rick. Millenia older than his counterparts, he'd been frozen by a maleficent curse. And sitting there, under the Citadel's darkness, the world had become fast and gray.

He often wondered if that would be it.

...One day, a Morty approached. He knew what a Morty was. He knew he didn't have one. So what this one was doing was beyond all logic.

The Morty sat on the ground, laid down his materials, and finally began working on the counter-curse; one that had taken him millenia to find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember that v sad scene from skyward sword where everyone is in pain :)


	22. president morty & c-137

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and fuck me for letting my guard down, which I will NEVER DO AGAIN.

 

Morty heads once more to the Wishing Portal. It's become a tradition by now. He's escorted by two Ricks, members of his guard; they're nothing more than mindless slaves, now that he's implanted the controllers into their heads. They're like zombies, he thinks, and chuckles lightly.

They watch as he steps closer to the edge. Their basic instincts tell them to watch out for the Morty, no more than a child, _their own grandson_ , but it's overridden, and they merely stand by.

The President scowls, exhausted, as he drops the eyepatch into the Wishing Portal, and cries his prayer into the wind.

 

Change is imminent, it seems.

 

From the bar, a Morty watches the news; like three Mortys working at a farm, he feels hopeful, for once. He wonders if his two regulars feel the same, not really knowing their fate.

A getaway driver, a knight and a dream traveler enter the bar. They're all Mortys, they're all damaged; they've come to invite the bartender to the President's forces.

A Morty with dyed hair wakes up. Next to him, a Morty with lavender bruises and lavender clothes stares at the sunset; his Rick sits by the hospital window, fast asleep. Another Rick comes in with news: things've changed.

 

"Change is imminent." The President speaks to the roaring crowd of himselves and Ricks. A college graduate and an archery duo look at each other, uncertain.

 

Somewhere in the multiverse, a police officer rescues a lost girl, and thinks that there still must be good out there.

Somewhere on planet Earth, a child mourns his grandfather, underneath the pouring rain; he screams and refuses to sleep.

Somewhere in a forgotten land, a man made of glass and his partner, frozen in time, learn to exist once more.

Somewhere deep in the citadel, a prince leads three heroes through the dungeons: a king awaits rescue.

 

"Change is imminent," the President repeats later that night, sitting by the Wishing Portal one last time. "Change is unstoppable."

 

He drops each bullet shell he's used up until now, watches them swirl down the green vortex. Then, he looks up.

The ghosts of the fallen Mortys haunt him. The phantoms of the Ricks, not so much.

He doesn't wish for anything. Nothing can change the course of fate.

The President stands up, glancing towards the One True Morty standing across from him, and allows himself to smirk.

He's alone, Rickless, devoid of the light he once had. He's jaded, sharp and light; the portal gun glows green, strapped behind his jeans, next to the ray gun he very much stole from a corpse.

The gun is suddenly pointed at his face. The President doesn't move, barely speaks. "What do you want?"

The Morty's hands shake, and he tries (fails) to steady himself. "Bring him back," he says.

"I can't." His eyes glimmer dangerously under the green lights. "You know that."

"Bring him back."

The President squints at him. Sighs.

 

Change is imminent, and they both know it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i just kill our rick? maybe. do i regret it? most likely.  
> thanks for reading!


End file.
